- Graduate students are expected to be on site at the medical center from 8am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday (with the exception of the first 4 weeks when instruction begins at 8:30am and ends at 4pm) unless otherwise indicated by program leadership. This schedule is carefully configured to meet state and national requirements for both clinical and lecture hours.
Three weeks of vacation are built into the schedule. Two weeks occur just prior to the start of spring semesters and one week falls in the middle of spring semester. Graduate students are permitted to take up to 16 hours (or 2 days) of personal time per semester in hourly increments with advance notice. The written request must be made two weeks prior to the requested date/ time and must be made to the program director AND the clinical instructor. Advance notice provides adequate opportunities to schedule make-up experiences. Request forms are provided in the appendix.
Students missing more than 2 days in a row due to illness or other unplanned critical events are required to:
- Submit a written explanation as to the program director that includes: the anticipated date of return; a list of missed experiences; and the approved make up schedule for those experiences (clinical instructor approval required).
- Submit a doctor’s excuse for absences due to illness for more than 2 consecutive days that provides the date the graduate student is medically cleared to resume normal activity (and return to the program).
In the event of a prolonged absence graduate students must adhere to the leave of absence policies found in the current Graduate Studies Bulletin entitled: Regulations and University Policies Concerning Graduate Studies.
Noncompliance may result in dismissal from the program. A sample evaluation form is provided in the appendix.
Unscheduled absences (those that occur without prior advance notice) will be monitored. Absenteeism and a history of repeated requests to leave early without proper approval will result in remediation and may lead to dismissal from the program.
Graduate students must inform clinical instructors or the program director if they are unable to attend clinical rotations and/or lectures prior to the beginning of the shift. It is the expectation of the department that the graduate student report their absence directly to a departmental representative. Although it may be helpful to leave a voice mail or send an email, key instructors may not receive the message in a timely fashion. In some cases instruction to other students may be delayed until everyone is present.
Missed exams and practicals must be made up immediately upon the graduate student’s return to the program.
Alerts for program closings due to dangerous travel conditions, power outages, or unexpected utility failures will be made directly to students as soon as the information becomes available.
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Attendance is mandatory. Students are permitted 2 sick days per semester and must make up practicums and exams within a reasonable time frame when they return to class. In the event that additional days are missed the student must:
- Submit a written explanation within 2 days to the program director explaining the reason for the extended absence that includes an anticipated date of return with an approved (by the appropriate instructor) action plan detailing the makeup schedule for missed practicums and/or exams.
- Submit a doctor’s excuse for absences over 3 consecutive days with written approval to return to normal activities.
- Submit a doctor’s excuse for leave of absences due to a medical condition with a written statement that the student cannot return to the program for medical reasons.
- Students that do not comply with these policies will be placed on academic probation or dismissed from the program at the discretion of the program director.
- Withdraws from the program will follow the University policy for tuition and fee refunds. The tuition refund policy can be viewed at the following URL: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/graduate/home/forms/refund-schedule.aspx
- Students that do not maintain a B- in all courses will be placed on academic probation.
- Grades of B- or better are required for satisfactory performance in the graduate program. One grade below B- in any course is cause for review of overall performance and will result in academic probation for the duration of graduate study. A second grade below B- is basis for dismissal from the graduate program. This information is found at the following link: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/graduate/trainee-handbook/policies-benefits/c- or-below-grade-policy.aspx.
- Grade appeals must be submitted in writing with a full explanation of the reason for dispute; a copy of the graded assessment; and references to course materials to support the claim. Appeals will be reviewed by the Medical Director and Program Director. The outcome of the appeals will be returned within 2 weeks of submission of the required documents. Further information on appeals is found at the following link: http://www.rochester.edu/GradBulletin/PDFbulletin/Regulations.pdf.
- As per the University of Rochester Regulations and University Policies Concerning Graduate Studies, academic honesty is taken very seriously and a central responsibility for all students. Suspected breaches are reported to the department chair and associate dean of graduate studies. Claims of academic misconduct will be reviewed by department leadership and if a breach is confirmed will result in penalties. Ignorance of this policy is not considered a valid excuse or defense. The full policy can be viewed at the following URL; on page 16: http://www.rochester.edu/GradBulletin/PDFbulletin/Regulations.pdf.